Gochujang

고추장

Gochujang is a savory, sweet, and spicy Korean paste made from red chili peppers, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, salt, and a sweetener such as sugar or honey. An everyday staple of the Korean diet, gochujang is one of the main ingredients in traditional Korean dishes such as bibimbap, tteokbokki, and jjigae stews.

Traditionally, gochujang was made at home by aging the ingredients in earthenware jars outdoors for many days or even years, often placing them on a raised platform in the backyard called a jangdokdae. Many families still made gochujang the traditional way as late as the 1970s, but nowadays almost everyone uses commercially made, mass-produced gochujang, which is often made with artificial ingredients like corn syrup, MSG, and chemical preservatives.